Centenarian celebrates under the golden arches

Konstanty Szyra has been a regular at the McDonald's in Marlborough for a fifth of a century.

So when it came time to celebrate his 100th birthday, there was no better place than under the golden arches where he's been a regular for about two decades, playing bingo there once a week for the last 17 years.

"I feel like they're my family," said Szyra of the dozens of people - many of them McDonald's staffers and regulars - who packed the fast food joint's Marlborough location Tuesday for a bingo game and cake cutting in honour of his birthday.

Szyra was born Dec. 23, 1910 in Ukraine when it was under Polish occupation.

In 1939 he was taken to Siberia by the Russians and forced to work there.

"We weren't treated like humans, we were treated like enemies," he said, noting the experience inspired him to focus on treating others humanely.

Szyra said he was released in 1942 and served in the Polish army under British rule during the Second World War.

He became ill and was sent to a hospital in Italy, then transferred to England, and in 1947 landed in Canada where he worked making cabinets, finishing furniture and repairing antiques for the Banff Springs Hotel.

Hotel management transferred him to Regina to work, where he met his second wife (he married in Europe prior but his first spouse died) before ending up back in Alberta working for the Banff Springs again.

He became a McDonald's regular and on Tuesday was presented with a mug filled with 100 coffee vouchers to represent 100 years of life and blew out the candles on a cake in front of friends.

"Kon's been coming for numerous years and is a big fan of our coffee," said Laurier Baillargeon, McDonald's marketing manager.

Szyra, who has three children - one with his first wife and two with his second - said he is happy to have lived so many "beautiful years" in Canada.

"I have no words to describe what I go through, but I'm so happy I live in a beautiful country," he said.

While he has "no recipe" for living to 100, his advice is simply to love and help others and avoid being greedy.